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Allan said the impact of the retirement of Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX) chairman Peter Munk and the departure of CEO Jamie Sokalsky will be followed closely by shareholders.

“With Barrick it’s just been drama after drama and I think there’s still more dramas yet to go,” Allan says.

Earlier this month, the company eliminated the CEO role and replaced it with two co-presidents in a move that increased the influence of chairman John Thornton. The move followed a tumultuous year for the company that saw it take billions in writedowns, stop work at its massive Pascua-Lama project in South America and restructure its business with the sale of several non-core operations.

The price of gold plunged last year, taking shares in the gold miners with it as companies scrambled to cut costs.

However, the price of gold has stabilized – holding this year between US$1,200 and US$1,300 an ounce – and the gold sector has been one of the top performing groups on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, Kinross Gold (TSX:K), which has a third of its production in Russia, has exposed itself to considerable risk, Allan said.

“One of their primary asset base is in Russia and, given world sentiment on Russia, it has hurt their stock price fairly dramatically,” he said.

Russia has faced sanctions by the West over its annexation of Crimea and the revolt in eastern Ukraine.

However, Phil Russo, an analyst for Raymond James, doesn’t think it will hurt Kinross’s operations.